


Blue and white striped

by cherrylng



Category: Coldplay (Band), Muse (Band)
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Presents, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 09:43:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6149497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrylng/pseuds/cherrylng
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris talks to Matt on Skype on late night in LA during his birthday, opening the gifts sent to him from his boyfriend on the other side of the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blue and white striped

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 39th birthday, Chris Martin!
> 
> Edit: Okay, so I changed part of the story because after two comments from LJ asking me the same question, I see that I have been very vague of what's going on here. Hopefully it might seem more understandable.
> 
> But I'll explain it nonetheless. This story is non-AU where Chris and Gwyneth actually did separated in 2014 after ten years of marriage. And Matt separated with Kate in late 2014. The ring mentioned is the wedding ring that Chris kept after the divorce, because even after the separation, both Chris and Gwyneth still held some love for each other.

“Morning, meerkat. Did I catch you up on the wrong time?” Chris asks once he sees Matt appear on Skype in his laptop.  
  
 _“Oh no, no,”_ Matt answers, yawning and rubbing his eyes. His hair is messy and sticking up here and there. _“It’s about... eight in the morning or something here in Paris. I think it’s ten in the evening over in LA?”_  
  
“It’s eleven,” Chris corrects the brunette’s assumption.  
  
 _“I’m still in time then,”_ Matt says with relief. He smiles at Chris. It isn’t just some normal kind of smile. It’s the one where Matt’s face softens up, and the crinkles by the corner of his eyes are visible, and his blue eyes seem twinkling even through the webcam. _“Happy birthday, love.”_  
  
“Thank you, Matt,” Chris smiles back, wishing so badly that he can physically kiss his boyfriend right now, maybe even comb his wily hair.  
  
 _“Did you get them? Did the gifts arrived in time?”_ Matt questions, struggling to not fall back to sleep.  
  
“Yeah, they did. I got them all right here,” Chris holds up the large box in hand in direct sight of the camera. “The parcel arrived today and I held off from opening it until we’re on Skype like I promised.”  
  
 _“Open the parcel right now,”_ Matt sits up, leaning forward. _“I promised that it’s a lot better than it looks.”_  
  
“Alright, alright,” Chris leaves his laptop while he searches for a box cutter. Once he opens the parcel up, there are quite a few wrapped gifts inside it and an envelope on top of them.  
  
“So, which one do you want me to open up first?” Chris asks.  
  
 _“The letter. Open the letter first,”_ Matt says with such excitement that his words are jumbled up with one another. Chris finds it both funny and endearing.  
  
“Joyeux anniversaire!” Chris chuckles when he pulls out the card. “French for ‘Happy Birthday’. Nice.”  
  
 _“Well, I’m in France. So that’s a whole lot different from the ones that you get already,”_ Matt shrugs. _“You got lots of greetings in there written by my friends. Dom, Chris, Tom, Morgan, Glen, Dom A, etcetera. They even got you presents. It’s why you can see all of them in that parcel.”_  
  
“They didn’t really have to do it.” Chris looks back down on the box, now understanding why there’s a lot more than what Matt has intended to give to him.  
  
 _“They wanted to, even insisted it. It’s why I had to get a bigger box.”_  
  
“Alright then. Send my regard of thanks to them,” Chris says.  
  
 _“Okay, I’ll tell them that during lunch and you can read the card later. Now open the gifts. I saw the one that Chris has. It’s really cool looking.”_  
  
“And which one is yours?” Chris inquires. “I want to open up yours first.”  
  
At that, Matt’s demeanour changes in front of the camera. _“Um, it’s the blue and white striped one. It’s a small one.”_  
  
It doesn’t take long for Chris to find it, though he is curious on why it is at the bottom of the box.  
  
 _“There’s also the one that Morgan got for you,”_ Matt interrupts Chris when he tries to unwrap the present. _“It’s a vinyl album, but I can’t tell you what it’s from.”_  
  
“Why are you trying to keep me from opening your gift? Did you get something that I’m not supposed to open in front of Apple and Moses?” Chris teases.  
  
 _“No, no. It’s safe for children to see.”_  
  
“Whatever it is, I won’t be upset about it, Matt,” Chris chuckles. The gift reveals to be a velvet covered box. Opening the box, Chris stops laughing and takes a look at the content inside it.  
  
“A chained necklace?” Chris says with a raised eyebrow, turning his attention back to the brunette.  
  
 _“Well, you told me before about needing to find a replacement for where you’re putting your ring nowadays since you're no longer a married man anymore,”_ Matt looks hesitant on the screen, probably fiddling his fingers that Chris can’t see. _“I didn’t know whether to buy it or not. And I was nervous of sending it off with the rest since I don’t know how you will react to it--”_  
  
“I love it,” Chris blurts out.  
  
 _“What?”_  
  
“I love it, Matthew,” Chris says slowly, a smile cracking on his lips. “You’ve been thoughtful of making this necklace and my wedding band meaningful. I can’t ask for more for what you’ve given to me. Thank you.”  
  
 _“Oh, thank fuck,”_ Matt sighs in relief. He looks at Chris with a lopsided grin. _“You were always better at talking than I do, Chris. I was worried sick that something would go wrong out of my choice of a present.”_  
  
“Don’t beat yourself over it now, darling. I really love it,” Chris chides at Matt gently. Using the word ‘darling’ on Matt will effectively stop him from thinking over it. Once upon a time, that word ‘darling’ belonged to Gwyneth when they were married, but now it fits on Matt as well when they got together after he and Gwyneth separated.  
  
Once he replaces the string necklace where his ring have been to the chained one that Matt gave to him, Chris takes a good look at it. “It looks a lot better on a chained necklace,” he notes.  
  
 _“It does,”_ Matt replies. _“So, I presume that you had a party to celebrate your birthday?”_  
  
“Just a small one, with friends and family. Nothing big. Moses wrote a song for me, even sang it along with his sister. Gwyneth told me that they have been keeping it a secret from me.” And it was really lovely for Chris to experience it, seeing the children growing up and doing something for him that warms his heart.  
  
 _“I hope someday Bing might do the same to me,”_ Matt says. Then he laughs, sweeping his hair back. _“Fuck, we’re getting old here, aren’t we? Being dads and all that. Someday we might even get tired of touring this long.”_  
  
“Yeah, we are. I don’t agree on the touring part. Still nowhere near tired of it yet, and I’m itching to be back on the road,” Chris says. “So, how does it feel to be back on tour and in France this time around, meerkat?”  
  
 _“Well you know, the usual,”_ Matt waves his hand in a dismissive manner. _“Worries about anything going wrong. Been awhile since we’ve last set foot and play in Paris. Did you know that we almost lost our helium drone a few nights ago from getting too close to the crowd and…”_  
  
All the while Chris lets Matt ramble on. The older man has a fond smile on his face as he watches Matt so animated on screen, the brunette being unaware that he himself is the best gift to Chris for the past year, more than the gifts in the box under his feet.


End file.
